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Roughly $270 million has been committed by a group of global banks to a joint dollar-stablecoin venture known among participants as Project Faro, Decrypt reported, citing Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank are among the backers.
Crypto Briefing also covered the Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar with the matter. The new capital is intended to fund five years of operations at a U.S.-incorporated company that would issue a dollar-pegged token.
Also read: Citi Taps Coinbase to Convert Corporate Stablecoin Payments Into Fiat
Key facts
- The commitment is about $270 million across the participating banks, funding five years of operations, per Decrypt.
- Project Faro is still searching for a chief executive and has not settled on an official name.
- The venture builds on a September announcement by 21 financial institutions, now including Wells Fargo, Fidelity Investments, UBS and Lloyds, and targets a launch in the first half of 2027, with a euro version and other currencies to follow.
- JPMorgan is not among the participants, Decrypt reported.
- Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC hold about 85% of a stablecoin market worth roughly $290 billion, almost all dollar-pegged.
Inside the consortium’s pitch
The group’s bet rests on institutional trust, regulatory alignment and existing client networks, aimed at round-the-clock cross-border settlement at lower cost than conventional payment rails. The token is being designed to comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act, the federal framework for dollar-pegged tokens created in 2025, and with the EU’s MiCA regime where it applies. The banks have said they want it used across wholesale, institutional and retail markets.
The effort has widened since it first surfaced. An initial group of 10 banks began exploring the idea in October 2025, and the consortium that went public in September more than doubled that count, drawing members from North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Beyond the four banks named by Bloomberg, participants include Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Fidelity Investments, PNC, Capital One, TD Bank, UBS, BBVA, Lloyds Banking Group and MUFG.
The competition it faces
Crypto-native issuers remain dominant. Tether and Circle control the large majority of a market that is almost entirely dollar-denominated in its tokens. When the bank consortium first went public in September, Circle’s stock fell about 6% as investors priced in bank-backed competition for USDC.
Similar efforts are forming elsewhere in traditional finance. Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are among more than 100 companies backing the issuer Open Standard, while European banks have set up Qivalis to issue a euro-denominated coin.
Neither reports conflict on the headline figures: Decrypt and Crypto Briefing both cite the same Bloomberg reporting for the $270 million figure and the five-year funding plan. Decrypt adds the detail on the wider participant roster and the market-share context; Crypto Briefing labels the story as developing.
Why it matters
Until now, the bank consortium existed as a blueprint with a stated ambition. A $270 million commitment moves it toward hiring and buildout, and gives traditional lenders an operating budget aimed at a business long dominated by crypto-native issuers. For merchants, payment firms and institutional treasuries weighing stablecoin settlement, a bank-issued option backed by regulated institutions could become an alternative to USDT and USDC, though nothing has launched.
What to watch
The next concrete markers are the naming of a chief executive and the final choice of company name, which the project has yet to disclose. The stated target for launch is the first half of 2027, a date both reports note is still ahead.
Reported by Decrypt.
Sources: Decrypt, Crypto Briefing